Swamiji's thoughts now turned to the young men
who had of their own accord left their homes and
taken shelter at his feet. They had worked hard and
served the cause all these years. Several of them
desired to take up Sanyasa formally. The practice till
then was for the President of the Belur Mutt to give
Mantra-Deeksha or Sanyasa. While the President
Maharaj, Swami Brahmanandaji was in Bangalore last
time he had told the Swami that devotees need not be
sent up to him for initiation, and that the Swami
himself might give it. To take upon one's shoulders the
whole life burden, the aggregate of the age-long
karmas of another was a responsibility at which several
perfected ones shuddered and which they quietly
shirked or tried to avoid. It is well known how
Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna himself had to suffer for
taking up the responsibilities of many, how some of
his immediate disciples were reluctant to initiate
disciples and how discriminative they were in their choice
of disciples. But to the large loving heart of Swamiji
any such feeling was foreign and repugnant. It knew
no fear either in this world or the next. He, the free,
was commissioned to go from place to place and help
all out of darkness. And here were his own children
who had clung to him forgetting themselves from the
very beginning. He decided to take all their burden
upon himself, to give them Sanyasa. They may have
many faults and weaknesses. No such thought or
vision deterred him from following his own path. He
may have to suffer the consequences, what of that?
Was he not the true son and follower of Him who bore
the Cross for the sake of man?

On the 22nd of December 1923 were gathered
eleven Brahmacharins at the Aahrama at Haripad. The
occasion was unique. That was the first house of God
in Kerala where God's children could feel themselves
perfectly at home, free from the shackles of social
customs, where they could mix with one another in
joy and fearlessness; that was the first occasion when,
in the history of all Kerala, birth did not debar a man
from entering the freedom of the last Ashrama of life;
that was the first occasion again when a child of the
Prince of Tyagis lit the literal fire of renunciation in
Kerala when the perfected one spoke of his own state
and experience.

To raise their minds to a higher level, to make
them fully conscious of the greatness oi the step they
were going to take, the Swami asked the
Brahmacharins to speak on Sanyasa. After they had spoken,
Swamiji who was in an exalted mood spoke a few
burning words. "Real Sanyasa is not giving up, it is
taking in. Instead of a few acres of land and other
finite things, the Sanyasin takes the whole universe as
his heritage. He who was the son of man becomes
the child of God. In exchange for a small family of
men, he gets the entire creation as his relations. It is
not also a flying away from misery. That befits only
a coward. It is daring to see God and Bliss in everything.
The Sanyasin gets the vision of God and lives
in perpetual joy, conveying peace and happiness to all."

In the auspicious Brahma Muhurta, the next day,
the eleven Brahmacharins duly performed the Viraja
Homa under the directions of the Swamiji and took the
vow of Sanyasa according to Vedic rites; they were
given Kashaya robes and new names by Swamiji. They
are: Swamis Chitsukhananda; Nirvikarananda;
Niranjanananda; Sekharananda; Chidambarananda;
Naishtikananda; Chitprabhananda; Chitbhasananda;
Subbrananda; Vageeswarananda; and Dheeswarananda.
After, the ceremony was over Swamiji said to a visitor
devotee "I have merely entrusted them to Sri
Gurumaharaj. They have been dedicated to him. I have
no more concern with them. Sri Gurumaharaj will
lead them." How true! Again he said 'I am a mere
tool'. Regarding his teaching work he used to say; 'I
am a mere gramaphone, reproducing the ideas of great
minds. Swami Vivekananda was the great pipe through
which the ideas of Sri Gurumaharaj flowed. We are
all small pipes fitted for the same purpose.'

After the initiation some of the disciples were
discussing as to how the new Sanyasins were to live in
the world. Swamiji overheard them and said: "Be like
the postmen. Haven't you seen the postman delivering
letters? The letters may be very important, but the
post man who delivers them is not considered an
important person. You are to deliver the ideas of
Gurumaharaj and Swamiji. Be their postmen, give
out the ideas, not as teachers but as delivery peons.'

Regarding food he said, let what you take be
anything. If you use your energy for good purposes,
your food will become satwic. Otherwise even good
food becomes tamasic.

Swamiji left Kerala for Bangalore via Coonoor.
This time also he visited all the Kerala centres. In
Bangalore he gave Sanyasa to two Brahmacharins and
named them Deshikananda and Shambhavananda.